


Consequences of Reason

by kasey1939



Series: Consequences [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Another way of looking at things, Gen, This is a work of fiction, stay calm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4006408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kasey1939/pseuds/kasey1939
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Henry starts questioning his life and his decisions he meets someone who helps him put everything in perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Friends

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://s1063.photobucket.com/user/kasey19391/media/Done%20Story%20Banners/consequences%20of%20reason.jpg.html)   
> 

**Disclaimer - I own none of the Once Upon a Time... well anything. I get nothing out of writing this but the joy of knowing you're reading it.**

** **

Henry sat in his "fort" hugging his book of fairytales and tried to figure out where it all went wrong. When he'd first read the book everything had seemed so simple. Find his mom, bring her to Story Brooke, break the curse, and live happily ever after. 

Now, the curse was broken and his mom was here, but there didn't seem to be a happily ever after for them because the Enchanted Forest was gone, none of them could leave Story Brooke without losing themselves and everything was just a mess. 

He was so busy fighting his tears and his misery that he didn't realize he wasn't alone anymore until the girl was right next to him.

"Who are you? How did you find me?" He was instantly suspicious of her, as it seemed that everyone was out to get him these days.

"Well, my name is Lydia and what makes you think I was looking for you? Who are you?" He could tell from her tone her last question was a bit mocking, but to be polite he answered anyway.

"I'm Henry and the only reason anyone comes here anymore is to look for me." Which in and of its self was a sad statement about his life that people kept having to come find him.

"Maybe that was true before the curse broke but I think everyone will agree things are different now."

Boy was that an understatement, looking at her more closely he tried to place her. She was around his age, with bright honey brown hair and green eyes. He didn't remember seeing her around town and he didn't remember her from the book either.

Thinking of the book he looked down at it gripped tightly in his hands like just seeing the cover would tell him who she was.

"Oh, I'm not in there darling. I was never that interesting or important, never warranted so much as a foot note. Now that we got that out of the way, why don't you tell me why you're out here crying your eyes out all alone?" She looked genuinely concerned, with a sigh he relented under her steady gaze. Maybe she could help.

"Everything's all wrong! I thought when the curse broke we would all go home and… and…" He held up the book like it would finish the sentence he couldn't.

"And you could live the life you saw in the book? The life you think you should have had?" He nodded, finally someone understood!

"Well, I just have one question. Was the life you ended up with so terrible?"

She didn't understand at all. Dejected he looked down at his lap not able to meet her eyes for his confession.

"Yes! I was adopted by the Evil Queen."

"I know, I think the whole town knows that now, but was she ever Evil to you? Did she ever hurt you?" She didn't even look at him as she spoke, like the questions and his answers to them didn't matter. Like it wasn't important.

"No, but everyone else…" He didn't even get to finish is speech about good versus evil and how his adopted mother was the _queen of all evil_.

He was beginning to get the feeling that he wasn't in control of this conversation, and that it wasn't really a conversation at all. He began to understand what August was talking about when he told his mom that 'we need to talk' really meant 'I need to tell you something and you need to just shut up and listen because I'm right and you're you, you pitiful simple man'.

"Have their reasons for being angry with her, but we're not talking about them now are we? What did she do to you?"

She was looking at him no, and oh how he wished she wasn't. Her very expression just seemed to scream that he was an idiot for not being able to follow a simple conversation. Deciding that there was no shame in retreat against a superior opponent he decided to just answer her question so that this conversation could end.

Had she ever done anything evil to him?

Henry had to think about it a minute, which shocked him. She was **The Evil Queen** the reasons should just flow out of his mouth.

"When the curse ended she abducted me." There! That was definitely evil.

"She may have reacted badly, done the wrong thing, but she was reacting to losing you. You were leaving her all alone and she loved you and didn't want to just watch you walk away and out of her life. Also if you'll remember right when she realized how unhappy you were she let you go didn't she?"

She had let him go, not even an hour after she'd taken him. If someone un-did a bad thing they'd done, before anyone really got hurt, should the bad thing still be held against them? He decided to push that aside for later, it was making his brain itch.

"Yeah, but she … put me under a sleep spell." Her signature evil move. Never again would he eat an apple anything voluntarily. Bring on the doctors apples were evil.

"Way I heard it was that curse wasn't meant for you at all and she cried by your bedside for hours. Next." He began to realize he was losing this… whatever it was. It wasn't an argument because she wasn't arguing but it was most definitely something. He couldn't even retreat.

"She enacted the curse in first place!" Defend that!

"That was nearly thirty years ago, before you were even born, heck it was before your mother could even crawl. Pay attention, we're still focusing on you. What else?" Her tone was soft like she was starting to think he wasn't all there. He was starting to think the same thing, why couldn't he think of anything?

"When I found my real mom she punished me." Which was so unfair, evil moms shouldn't punish people just for finding their mother.

"That was because you ran off without so much as a note to tell her where you were and worried her half to death, evil would have been if she didn't care about your safety, then you waltz back in and tell her that not only do you hate her but that you're replacing her. Got anything else?" Again with the tone.

"Do you have answers to justify everything she's done?" He was beginning to think that she did.

"You have answers to vilify everything, I'm just playing devils advocate, you should try it sometime it's quite fun." She was smiling now like they were sharing a private joke, when this whole thing was so far from funny.

"Devil's right!" That statement got him a look which clearly said such a thing was beneath him, and unfortunately she was right, it was.

"How do you know so much anyway? Do you work for her!" She was wrong! She had to be, evil didn't love, it couldn't, _she_ couldn't.

"I may not be book worthy, but that doesn't make me stupid and I have been here awhile. Plus, dude, I'm ten I don't work for anyone."

"Sorry." What else could he say? "So what you're saying is that she isn't evil?" Time for her to be on the other end of this see how she likes answering questions that don't really seem to have an answer.

"No I'm saying that before you cut her out of your life completely maybe you should look at both sides of things, not just the one you want to be right. Yes, your birth mother is here now, but she didn't come looking for you, Henry, you had to go find her and trick her into coming here. Then you practically had to force her to stay."

"So what now my mom's the evil one? I knew it you work for Regina, this is all a trick!" She must be working for Regina, everyone knows that the Charmings are the good guys and his mom is their daughter, she was inherently good.

"No, I'm saying there is no good or evil not in the real world, only choices, consequences, and reasons.

“In books and stories it's easy to see who should win and who should lose, but in real life, in the day to day, it's a bit more complicated. Half of writing a story is deciding the truth, not everything makes it onto the pages. Every day we make thousands of choice and each choice we make leads to another decision and another after that. The other side of that though is that every decision we make, every choice we choose, has both a reason for that choice and a consequence for making it.

“If you want to truly understand someone, to fairly judge them, then look first on the reason behind the choice, then the other way they could have gone knowing that reason, then the consequences not the other way around. You've started at the consequences, made you're way back to the choice, then you just stopped.

"You're looking at everything through the eyes of a story where you see the end result and not the beginning not what drives that person not what made them who they are now. To be fair and just, which from our talk is what I think you're aiming for, you need to look at your own experiences with Regina and stop thinking about the past, especially a past that you weren't part of."

"Why what difference does that make?" Even if he wasn't apart of the past everyone else shared that didn't change anything. Regina was still the same person who made those choices, she was still the evil queen even if she wasn't evil towards him.

"Well, let's look at the side of good for a minute, okay?

“Ruby is a wonderful person, loyal, protective, kind, but she also ate the love of her life before she knew she was a wolf and learned control. Cinderella made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to go to a party where she met her own prince charming and in exchange she had to give up her first born, only she didn't know that would be the price until after the wedding. Or even Doc Hopper, who's so loyal to Gepeto and has been trying to help you as best he can, but his loyalty stems from his guilt for causing Gepeto to lose his family." She was ticking them off with her fingers as she spoke, and it looked like she could keep going for hours.

"What's your point?" He already knew all of this it was in the book, but when he'd read them they had been just stories, only words on a page now that she said them out loud they sounded horrible and kind of evil.

"My point is everyone in this town had done something they regret the only thing that sets… Ruby or Cinderella apart from Regina or Rumpelstiltskin is that you know the reasons behind their actions, their excuses and for you that excuses them. You knew they never meant to hurt anyone so that kept them good in your mind."

"So?" They were good, and hurting someone on accident shouldn't be held against anyone. What Regina had done was deliberate, she'd planned it out, the curse was completely on purpose.

"So, what were Regina's reasons? Why did she make the choices that she did, what started it all? Do you even know? More over, do you even care enough to ask?"

"Emma is my mom and she doesn't want me talking to Regina." That statement was met with a sigh so heartfelt and full of patience he nearly wanted to take it back rather than hear her reply. He'd wanted help, answers, and he was getting that, they just weren't the answers he thought he'd find.

"Look, Emma is a good woman, but just because she stayed finally that doesn't make her a saint and the things Regina, your mom, did to other people shouldn't make her the bad guy in your eyes. It isn't that automatic. Or at least it shouldn't be if you really are a good person."

"Regina isn't my mom! And I am a good person!" How could she even say that? He was a Charming, inherently good, just like his mom Emma.

"For ten years she _was_ the only one you had. For the first ten years of your life she was your mom, your world, she stayed up with you when you were sick; she taught you everything you needed to know to become who you are now. Every ounce of goodness in you, in some part, came from her.

“She was there for every birthday, every Christmas. She took care of you and blood or no, that just doesn't disappear because you think it should. You were willing to defy everyone for Emma, why should Regina be any different. The good people you want to be like, the people in that book you're holding so tightly, the truly good ones always do what's right not just what's easy. So what's the right thing to do now?"

"What am I supposed to do just go back to her? Live with her again? Turn my back on everyone else?" He couldn't do that. Why didn't she understand?

"Just, talk to her. Ask her all those questions rolling around in that head of yours, she's the only one with those answers you're really looking for. When you've done that come back here and we'll talk about what comes next."

With that she was up and walking away. How would she even know when to come back? Or even that he would do what she said? Oh, well, he'd try and figure her out later for now it looked like he was going home.

  
  



	2. Returning Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and Regina have a heart to heart.

Henry stared at the door that lead to the place that had been his home for so long and to his surprise he actually felt sad that it wasn't his home anymore. Reaching up before he lost his courage he rang the doorbell and waited for his mom to answer. Lydia had been right, no matter what else she was, no matter that Emma was his mother, Regina was still his mom. He heard her high heels clicking on the hard tile floor and knew she was almost to the door. For years the sound of her heels clicking away was how he knew where she was in the house. It was how he knew she was always there.

As the door slid open he watched her face change from anger directed at any of the countless adults who had been coming to her since to curse broke to a mix of sorrow and joy at seeing him standing there. It was then that he finally understood what Lydia had been trying to make him see. His mom was not only alone, she was lonely. He'd moved on to a new family where he was surrounded by love and life and he'd just left her behind by herself. He finally came to a decision he'd been battling with since Lydia began to talk to him. He would give his mom a second chance. If he'd learned anything from his book it was that everyone deserves a second chance.

"Hi mom, can we talk?"

Regina didn't know what to think. When she'd first seen Henry on her doorstep she'd been so happy but also so sad that he wasn't hers anymore, then he'd called her mom. At first she thought it might be a trick, she was ashamed of it now but she'd thought he'd been sent to distract her, but it had been ten minutes and nothing had happened. He seemed to be deep in thought when she'd asked he told her he was trying to find the right way to word his questions that he wanted to know some things but he didn't want to hurt her feelings by saying it wrong.

"Henry, you won't hurt my feelings. Just ask me what you came to ask."

"Why?" Why what?

"Why ask?"

"No, that's my question. Why? Why did you enact the curse? Why do you hate Snow so much? Just why?" He looked so earnest, like he was genuinely confused. Almost like he couldn't believe he'd never asked before. Like this question was an obvious one to ask, but he'd just never taken the time before.

"Why did you decide to ask me that now?"

"I met someone, a new friend, and she pointed out that I know the reason behind so many other things. That the reasons behind what they did made me more inclined to forgive them. Then when she asked me why you did what you did I couldn't tell her, because I didn't know. So now I'm asking why you did it."

No one had ever asked her that before. Either they already knew or they just didn't care why they only really cared about Snow White and her band of little merry do gooders. She thought about what to tell him, should she tell him the truth? This might be her only chance to tell him everything, to help him understand, and even if she never got him back she had this chance now to help him understand. Even if he never loved her again, maybe after today he just wouldn't hate her, and maybe that would be enough.

"Well I guess it's all connected. I hate Snow White because when she was younger about your age really, she told someone a secret of mine and the man I loved very much was killed because of it. At first I tried to let it go I really did, intellectually I knew that she was just a child and she was tricked into revealing my secret, but the more time that passed, and the more my life changed in ways I didn't want it to the angrier I became. Her life was turning out just as she'd always dreamed she had everything she'd ever wanted. Then one day I was just sitting there thinking about how different my life could have been if only he'd survived and we'd run away together like we'd planned and I just started to blame her. She was the reason he was gone, so it followed that everything else that changed because of his death was also her fault.

"I did a lot of bad things trying to make the pain I felt go away. I thought that if she knew my pain, if she felt it like I did, if she had a whole in her heart like I did then I would feel better. But everything I did, it never worked, my life still fell apart and she got loyal friends and the love of her life out of it. Then they joined forces and they defeated me, banished me, and they were together happily ever after. The day I got the announcement of their wedding I felt this black bone deep rage well up inside of me and I couldn't make it stop. She was getting everything. Everything I tried, all those years, and she was still going to get the love of her life while mine was dead because of her.

"Then I remembered the curse. My friend Maleficent had told me about it before, she'd gotten it in trade with Rumplestiltskin long ago but she said she'd never enact it. That it was too evil even for her and I thought what a wonderful idea. You know the rest."

Henry didn't know what to say. He'd half expected some pitiful excuse of no one ever loved me or something along those lines but this? Strangely he kind of understood this. He probably wouldn't have before talking with Lydia but during her explanation he'd put himself in her place. Her love dead all because a little girl couldn't keep a secret then that girl grows up to have everything she ever wanted, everything Regina had taken from her. Yeah he could see how that might eat away at someone. He wasn't condoning what she did, the curse had still been beyond evil but maybe it was if not forgivable at least a little understandable. It almost sounded like everything had just gotten away from her.

He opened his mouth to tell her that he forgave her when he heard the front door slam open and multiple footsteps come rushing towards them in the kitchen. His mom moved around until she was in front of him, protecting him like she always had. Looking around her at the doorway he saw Snow, Charming, and Emma standing there looking very very angry with his mom.

When she had first been told that Henry had been seen going into Regina's house Emma hadn't known what to do. She'd run home to see if Henry was there thinking that maybe the person who'd seen it had been mistaken. She hadn't found Henry but she had found her parents, after filling them in they all decided they needed to go rescue Henry from Regina. Now here they were in Regina's kitchen, it struck her for a moment that Regina was standing in front of Henry protecting him, but she pushed it away to focus on what was important. This woman had her son.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Regina? I said you couldn't see him."

"Slow down Nancy Drew. It may have escaped your notice what with all that righteous fury you have building up in you there, but I didn't take Henry he just showed up here."

"Why would he do that, he hates you as much as everyone else in this town does!"

She knew from the way Regina flinched that she'd hit the mark with that.

"No, I don't."

Wait what? Did Henry really just say that he didn't hate Regina? But Henry had hated Regina since the day she'd met him all those months ago. It was a constant like the sun. The sun rose every day and Henry hated Regina every day.

"Henry, what..." She never got to finish her question.

"I thought I hated her, but really I only hated some of the things that she's done. But a new friend of mine pointed out that I was wrong and she was right. I don't hate Regina, how could I, she's my mom."

Ouch! That hurt a lot more than she'd thought it would.

"Henry sweetie, Emma's your mom you know that."

She turned to Snow silently thanking her for coming to her defense. That didn't answer her question though of what the hell had gotten into Henry. It was like someone had flipped a switch and changed him from day to night, made him care about Regina all of a sudden, and the only person she could think of who would even want to do that was Regina herself. Did she put a spell on him or something? The fact that spells were a part of her reality now would take some getting used to but it was the only explanation she could think of.

"No, Emma's my mother, Regina's my mom."

"Henry what?"

That was all any of them could think to say. That sentence was just so bizarre they couldn't even come up with a whole question.

"Emma gave birth to me, and she's staying here for me so she's my mother and nothing will ever change that. Regina took care of me for years and taught me everything I know, she's the reason I am who I am, she's my mom and nothing's ever going to change that either. I won't give up my mom to keep my mother and if you really love me you wouldn't ask me to."

With that Henry just turned and ran from the house not letting anyone stop him. The kid was really stubborn when he wanted something and right now it would seem he wanted to be away from all of them.

Stunned she turned back to Regina to find her equally as stunned as the rest of them by Henry's outburst. So this new way of thinking hadn't come from her then. Then who had twisted his mind around so much?

"This conversation isn't over Regina."

Their business here over for now the Charming's left to find Henry and to figure out what to do now.

Regina sat at a table with her mother Cora and tried to understand what had happened today. When it had come down to it the only thing she could think to do was to seek out her own mother for advice. She had never been the best mother in the world but since she'd gotten her heart back she'd changed, become more of a true mother and she really needed someone else's opinion on this whole thing.

"So, Henry has forgiven you then?"

"It would seem so, I just can't figure out why."

"Who cares why he's forgiven you, just be happy that he has." She was right of course she should be happy but she just couldn't seem to shake this feeling of dread.

"But, it was all so sudden mother, what if someone has cast some sort of spell on him to make him forgive me." If someone had she wasn't sure what she would do. Kill them or thank them.

"What would it matter if they did? The outcome is in your favor, take it as a win and be thankful."

"You didn't mother! Tell me…"

"Of course not dear, rest assured I had nothing to do with it I simply don't understand why you would care why you have his forgiveness when you've worked so hard for it."

Because if it was a spell and if that spell were to break then Henry would go back to hating her and she didn't think she would survive that a second time. She could never say that out loud however not even to her own mother.

"You're right mother, but is there a way for us to be certain that this change of heart is true." She had to know!

"Of course dear, if that's what you want I'm sure we could think of something."

"Yes, mother, that's what I want." It was what she needed.

  



	3. Time Sharing Henry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry thinks about everything and finally comes to a decision with the help of his new friend.

Sitting in the park Henry waited for Lydia. He'd been avoiding everyone; he didn't want to deal with any of this until after he talked with her again. He needed her advice on how to deal with the inevitable talk with his mother and grandparents.

 

"So how'd it go?"

 

Just like last time she just appeared out of nowhere. Someday he was gonna figure her out, but that could wait until she helped him figure out everything else.

 

"So you got your answers from your mom then?"

 

"Yeah, but then my mother and her parents showed up before I could tell her I forgave her and then I got defensive and ran away." He hung his head in shame at that last part. Hero's don't run.

 

"Hey, there's no shame in running sometimes it's the only thing to be done. When life is overwhelming and everything is coming at you at once everyone runs sometimes. Everyone."

 

He supposed she was right, it seemed like she was always right, and running had seemed like the only way to stop the fighting. They were fighting over him if he wasn't there then they wouldn't have anything to fight about anymore. Besides he got his answers and all he wanted in that moment was to get back here to see Lydia and talk about everything he'd learned. She was fast becoming his best friend.

 

"So tell me about these answers you found."

 

"Turns out my mom did have her reasons for what she did. She lost the love of her life because of a mistake and that turned her bitter and eventually caused everything that happened after." He still didn't know how to feel about that.

 

"So this excuses her?"

 

"No! Well, maybe, I don't know. Maybe excuses is the wrong word. Maybe it explains her though. Nothing will ever excuse what she did by enacting the curse she hurt so many people for so long, but at the same time she did have her reasons for doing it and I don't think she really understood the consequences. That's what everything is right, reason, choice, and consequence."

 

"True and now that you know her reason and you lived the consequence what do you think of her choice?"

 

"I think that it was the wrong choice." Of course it was the wrong choice, it was the evil choice, how could she ask that.

 

"Of course it was the wrong choice, with every choice that needs to be made there will always be a wrong choice and every now and then that's the choice that is made. I wasn't asking you if you thought it was right or wrong, I was asking if you understood from her reason why she made that choice instead of another one. And while we're at it what other choice do you think she had. If you were her what would you have done instead?"

 

He didn't know. That was a scary feeling to have not knowing. He'd never been in love but he did love people which he supposed was the same thing, so he thought about it. What if he'd told Lydia that he was going to run away before the curse was lifted and she was tricked by ... Mr. Gold into telling that secret before they could leave. Then what if to keep Henry from leaving, and Emma from following him, Gold had hurt him maybe put him in the sleep curse. Or closer to his mom's situation what if to keep him here Gold had killed someone he cared about like Snow White. How would he react and how would finding out that Lydia had been tricked into ratting him out have changed his reaction or his feeling towards her? What would he have done?

 

He still didn't have any answers and he supposed he never would. For all his imagination something like that was something he didn't think anyone would understand unless they were so deeply in love and then they lost it. Even though he wanted to understand his mom more he hoped he would never understand her completely.

 

Looking up at her and seeing her reassuring smile made him smile in return. Somehow just looking at her made it clear to him that everything was going to be alright. Somehow he would get through this like he did everything else.

 

Emma was pacing the apartment she shared with her parents, and really they really needed to talk about their living situation, and tried to remain calm. Henry was nowhere to be found and she was terrified that something had happened to him. Hearing the door open she ran into the living room but it was just her parents coming back from more obviously fruitless searching. Where could he be?

 

"Emma, you need to calm down, we'll find him."

 

"What if we don't? What if..." She couldn't make herself finish the thought of what if something terrible had happened to him. They lived in a town filled with people of fiction and legend no one, not even Regina, knew everyone that was here. Hearing the door again she turned to see who it was.

 

"Henry! Where have you been?" Running up to him she scooped him into her arms and hugged him tightly against her body assuring herself that he was here and alright.

 

"I was at my fort."

 

"Honey your fort was destroyed remember."

 

"No, not that one my new fort, its extra top secret so I know this one will always be there."

 

It always broke her heart whenever he talked about his fort like that, just one more thing that Regina took from him.

 

"I want to talk to you about Regina."

 

Finally he's come to his senses, he'll just apologize for going against her rules and going to see her and everything will go back to normal.

 

"I think I should spend alternating weeks at her house."

 

What!

 

"Henry honey, Regina is dangerous I don't think it would be a good idea -" There goes Snow sticking up for her again. It was kind of nice having a mom around.

 

"She isn't dangerous to me. She loves me and she'd never do anything to hurt me ever! Didn't you see when you three broke into her house how she got in front of me to protect me?"

 

"Henry-"

 

"No, she's all alone and I won't just leave her behind! Since it's already Friday I'll spend the weekend here and got to her house on Monday then I'll be back here the following Monday to spend the week here with you guys. This will work! Then everyone will have someone and no one will be alone."

 

Without another word he stormed off to his room leaving them to stand around staring at each other. What the hell just happened here?

 

"Well, I guess we know what he wants now."

 

"Honey-"

 

"No, Snow. The boy is right he is all Regina has, and I honestly don't think she'll hurt him. If he wants to spend time with her I don't think we should stand in his way. Maybe it'll be good for her, for both of them."

 

"But Regina is evil." Didn't he realize that?

 

"It doesn't matter if she's angry and venomous with us from what I've seen of her with Henry she is nothing but kind and loving. We should at least give it a try. If it doesn't work out we'll figure something else out but until then I don't see the harm in letting Henry get his way this once."

 

He might not see the harm but she did and there was no way in hell she was going to let her son be put in the middle of this little tug-a-war with Regina.

 

Regina sat at home with her mother trying to understand what she'd been told. Henry wasn't under some kind of spell. He had simply forgiven her. Feeling a smile form on her lips she knew that if that was true then she would never do anything ever again to lose his love. She would be there for him forever.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of this story. It's really just the prequel of the story I really want to right, but I had to get it out of the way first, so here it is.

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a Henry bashing fic. I am not trying to "victim shame" him or make him feel bad for choosing Emma over Regina. This is a fictional story! It's just another way of looking at things.


End file.
